Men, teen charged with dragging dog to death

Two men and a teenager were charged Tuesday with dragging a dog to death behind a pickup.

Jose Martinez Lopez, 35, of Stokes County and Jonathan Mason Evans, 18, of Rockingham County were charged with one count of felony cruelty to an animal, the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office said.

The teen’s name and age weren’t released because he is a juvenile.

The Stokes County Humane Society received a complaint on Sept. 6 that a dog was being dragged behind a vehicle, the Stokes County Animal Control Department said in a statement.

Mona Triplett, a Stokes County animal-cruelty investigator, found a dead dog along Kallam Farm Road in the Sandy Ridge community in northeastern Stokes County, the statement said.

A necropsy determined that the mixed-breed dog died of strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Witnesses told WGHP/FOX8 that the dog was abused before it was chained to the back of the truck. WGHP is the Journal’s newsgathering partner.

“I’ve never seen anything like this happen around here,” Brittany Southern, a witness, told the TV station.

Lopez has been released from the Stokes County Jail after posting a $10,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said. Evans was being held Wednesday in the Stokes County Jail with his bond set at $1,500. They are scheduled to appear in court Sept. 25.